"It is with incredible sadness that we report that our deputy was transported and pronounced dead at the hospital," Sheriff's Office spokesperson Amanda Overton said.

The Colorado Police Officers Foundation identified the deputy as Heath Gumm, 32, on its website, asking for donations for his family. It said he had been on the force since 2013. Local news media showed a long line of police cars with lights on driving in procession with the body to the coroner's office. No official identification had been made early on Thursday.

This is the second law enforcement officer to die near Denver in recent weeks. A Douglas County Sheriff's deputy was killed on Dec. 31 in a standoff in a Denver suburb where four other deputies and two civilians were also shot.

The latest shooting happened shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday local time near the city of Thornton, about 10 miles north of Denver.

The deputy was responding to a call of assault in progress and was shot once in the chest, officials said.

Local residents were ordered to stay indoors and keep away from doors and windows as SWAT officers hunted through the area.

"Those of you in that area please seek shelter and stay away from doors and windows,' the Adam's County sheriff's office said on its Twitter page.

Only a vague description of the two male suspects was available.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a statement released late Wednesday: "We are deeply saddened to learn that the deputy has died."

Some 128 law enforcement officers died in the United States in 2017, according to the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Addiional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Toby Chopra and Gareth Jones)